This relates generally to near-field sensor systems such as opto-fluidic systems, and, more particularly, to using such systems to image and evaluate fluid samples containing cells and other specimens.
Opto-fluidic sensors have been developed that can be used to generate images of cells and other biological samples. In conventional systems, the samples are suspended in a fluid. The fluid flows over a set of image sensor pixels in a channel. The image sensor pixels may be associated with an image sensor pixel array. As the fluid flows through the channel, image data from the pixels may be acquired and processed to form high-resolution images of the sample.
Chemicals such as reactants and reagents may be included in the channel or in the fluid for interacting with the samples. If care is not taken, these types of chemicals can damage portions of the system.
It would therefore be desirable to provide improved microfluidic imaging systems.